The grant will go to the Fre­man­tle PCYC break­fast club pro­gram, which pro­vides food for up to 30 chil­dren be­tween five and 12 years old.

Fre­man­tle PCYC cen­tre man­ager Julie Gor­man said it was an amaz­ing feel­ing to win.

“The pi­lot pro­gram has been in­cred­i­ble so far, see­ing the shift in the chil­dren and young per­sons in their out­look and en­gage­ment,” she said.

“Not hav­ing food causes is­sues be­yond hunger pains; em­bar­rass­ment, fear, iso­la­tion are just some of the emo­tions ex­pe­ri­enced. We be­come their sur­ro­gate fam­ily, a hand to hold through con­fu­sion and ne­glect; ul­ti­mately, we help th­ese chil­dren and young peo­ple be health­ier, hap­pier and safer by shar­ing the food on our ta­ble.”

Ms Gor­man said the grant meant the pi­lot pro­gram could con­tinue for two years.

“It will de­liver 8000 meals to chil­dren and young peo­ple in Fre­man­tle and sur­rounds,” she said.

“Long-term, it means this pos­i­tive in­ter­ven­tion in the lives of Fre­man­tle chil­dren and young peo­ple will lead to bet­ter school at­ten­dances, which has re­mark­able flow-on ben­e­fits for not just the stu­dents but the broader com­mu­nity.”

Other fi­nal­ists were Fre­man­tle Com­mu­nity Men’s Shed, ICEA Foun­da­tion and Black Swan Health, who all re­ceived a $5000 grant.